twilightzonefandomcom-20200214-history
Talk:The Ghost in the Drifting Tomb
Contents of the story, to be worked into an article eventually and should be removed from this page once that takes place. "It was in the last week of April, 1910 that vessels sailing along the Baltic coast of Germany began to notice a strange floating object. It seemed to be an elongated shape made of reiveted steel riding low in the water. Exactly what it was no one could say. But all agreed that the mysterious object was a danger to navigation, and vessels kept their distance. Then one day the Aurora, a Swedish sailing vessel, decided to investigate. As they drew close to the mysterious object, the sailors of the Aurora felt their blood run cold. They were looking at the hull of a capsized vessel. Somewhere, in a storm or gale, this mystery craft had been overturned, casting its crew into a raging sea! Sailors are a superstitious breed and they consider a floating derelict a sign of bad luck. They wanted to get the Aurora out of there quickly! But the captain raised his hand. He tilted his head toward the sunken vessel as if listening for a sound. And then the crew heard it too! A metallic thumping as if some unseen force was pounding on the hull! Was it the ghost of one of the sailors who had drowned when the boat capsized? The crew of the Aurora stared at each other fearfully. But the captain was unafraid. He ordered a small boat to pull alongside of the derelict. With a metal gaff, one of the boat's crew pounded on the sunken hull! There was a long wait... And then, as if in echo, the mysterious thumping sounded within the capsized boat. Was it a man inside or a ghost? The Aurora's men wanted no part of this strange vessel. But the captain was a stubborn man. 'Get a hawser aboard her!' he ordered. 'We'll tow her into port! Man or ghost wel'll find out what it is!' The Aurora hauled the wreck into the port of Danzig. There a dockside crane lifted the derelict partly out of the water. They could see her name now! She was the Erndte, a small coastal schooner which had vanished in a storm weeks ago! As crowds gathered a welder dropped on to the hull and cut a hole in the rusting metal. Then as the crowd stared in horror-stricken fascination, a hand reached up from the darkness below. Pale and claw-like it grasped at the sun's rays! 'Food! Water!' said a croaking voice. Within moments they were lifting a shrivelled wax-like figure out of the derelict...the living ghost of Hans Engellandt, skipper of the Erndte! In a mumbling hysterical voice he told his blood-chilling story. He had been trapped below when a violent storm had capsized his vessel and drowned the rest of the crew. For two long weeks he had lived in the darkness breathing the air that was sealed in the overturned hull. Day after day he had pounded on the steel above him trying to attract the attention of any vessel that might be passing by. Weak with fatigue and hunger he lapsed into unconsciousness, interrupted only by nightmares in which it seemed that passing vessels ignored his cries and sailed on! When at last he heard a pounding on the hull he was sure it was just another nightmare. Yet instinctively he pounded on the steel in answer. Then, exhausted, he fell into consciousness once more. He was still unconscious when the welder opened the hull. It was the flood of sunlight which opened his eyes. The ghost of Hans Engellandt had been brought back to life from its floating tomb."